Inhalation of β2 agonists impairs the clearance of nontypable Haemophilus influenzae from the murine respiratory tract

BACKGROUND: Nontypable Haemophilus influenzae (NTHi) is a common bacterial pathogen causing human respiratory tract infections under permissive conditions such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Inhalation of β2-receptor agonists is a widely used treatment in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of inhalation of β2 agonists on the host immune response to respiratory tract infection with NTHi. METHODS: Mouse alveolar macrophages were stimulated in vitro with NTHi in the presence or absence of the β2 receptor agonists salmeterol or salbutamol. In addition, mice received salmeterol or salbutamol by inhalation and were intranasally infected with NTHi. End points were pulmonary inflammation and bacterial loads. RESULTS: Both salmeterol and salbutamol inhibited NTHi induced tumor necrosis factor-α (TNFα) release by mouse alveolar macrophages in vitro by a β receptor dependent mechanism. In line, inhalation of either salmeterol or salbutamol was associated with a reduced early TNFα production in lungs of mice infected intranasally with NTHi, an effect that was reversed by concurrent treatment with the β blocker propranolol. The clearance of NTHi from the lungs was impaired in mice treated with salmeterol or salbutamol, an adverse effect that was prevented by propranolol and independent of the reduction in TNFα. CONCLUSION: These data suggest that inhalation of salmeterol or salbutamol may negatively influence an effective clearance of NTHi from the airways

Meteorological Drivers of European Power System Stress

A rapid decarbonisation of power systems is underway in order to limit greenhouse gas emissions and meet carbon-reduction targets. Renewable energy is a key ingredient to meet these targets; however, it is important that national power systems still maintain energy security with increasing levels of renewable penetration. The operating potential of renewable generation at times of peak demand (a critical time for power system stress) is not well understood. This study therefore uses a multidecadal dataset of national demand, wind power, and solar power generation to identify the meteorological conditions when peak demand occurs and the contribution of renewables during these events. Wintertime European peak power demand events are associated with high atmospheric pressure over Russia and Scandinavia and are accompanied by lower than average air temperatures and average wind speeds across Europe. When considering power demand extremes net of renewable power production, the associated meteorological conditions are shown to change. There is considerable spatial variability in the dates of national peak demand events and the amount of renewable generation present. Growth in renewable generation has the potential to reduce peak demands. However, these impacts are also not uniform with much larger reductions in peak demand seen in Spain than in central Europe. The reanalysis-derived energy models have allowed recent peak demand events to be put into a long-term context

Transient anticyclonic eddies and their relationship to atmospheric block persistence

Atmospheric blocking is a circulation pattern that describes the presence of large-scale, persistent anticyclones, which have the potential to bring severe impacts at the surface. However, the dynamical behaviour of blocks is still not fully understood. For example, the factors that determine the persistence of blocking events are not clear. In this study, the relationship between blocks and smaller-scale transient anticyclonic eddies is examined, with a particular focus on the impact of transients on the persistence of a block. Analysis is performed in two areas: the Euro-Atlantic and North Pacific, which are locations with both high blocking frequency and potential for severe impacts. Geopotential height anomalies at 500 hPa are used to identify blocking events and the anticyclonic transient eddies. This allows for a Eulerian definition of blocking, as well as a Lagrangian perspective on the eddies. It is found that anticyclonic eddies experience a northward acceleration prior to entering a block, which is indicative of ridge-building ahead of a block, but could also potentially provide evidence for the previously-proposed Selective Absorption Mechanism for block maintenance. A general pattern is found whereby longer blocks interact with more anticyclonic transients than less persistent blocks at all times of year. This effect is strongest in winter and weakest in summer, which agrees with the fact that blocks are most persistent in winter and least persistent in summer. However, the strength of the anticyclonic eddy, measured by its maximum 500 hPa geopotential height anomaly, that interacts with a block generally has very little bearing on the persistence of a block, aside from a few cases